An intensive workshop was conducted with 250 women belonging to Women's self help groups from Tsunami affected villages in Cuddalore district, Tamilnadu. During the workshop an analysis was done using focus group technique. The participants expressed their individual and community needs verbally as well as through written documents. There were 68 written representations from the participants explaining the present condition of their respective villages and the facilities they require to improve the infra-structure and to initiate the community to take up appropriate and alternate course of action to survive in the post Tsunami phase.
While the following recommendations are based on the needs identified within Cuddalore district we have also makes an effort to incorporate some of the relevant experiences from the other Tsunami affected communities:
- There is a desperate need on the part of the participants to be trained in some income generating activity. But they are neither aware nor sure about the financial implications, and practical application of their training into developing products that could be income generating. Many of the existing training programs do not have adequate follow through in implementation and income generating potential and end up developing a skill that is not put to any use.
- They are motivated in learning a new skill to supplement family income. But they have no clarity in terms of their own aptitude and application of those skills to find suitable jobs/business in their respective villages.
- The participants lack the ability to think of projects / facilities in terms of sustainability. There is a strong sense of exectation from and dependency on the part of the community on Government and NGO's. to provide the infrastructure and training facilities without any plan as to how such facilities are to be put to use for self-sustaining activity. There is a need to provoke and promote their thinking to come up with ideas and suggestions from the community about program sustainability for their long term benefits. There is a need to change their mind set to think of ways and means of meeting their needs through self-sustaining pojects with moderate support from the external agencies.
- Training programs by NGOs often end up being stand-alone exercises with no involvement from the village admiistration and community leaders. Whatever interest there is, is couched in vested interest. There is a need to conduct a VIKAS (value, initiative, knowledge, attitude and skills) program to empower and enlighten the community leaders to provide holistic support to the community to help themselves.
- The participants are very receptive to new ideas and willing learners but they lack direction and facilitation to start small scale ventures. There is a need to conduct training courses in Project Management and basic accounting techniques for them to come up with their proposals for micro-financing.
People still are not aware of their responsibility and accountability to maintain the services and facilities provided to the community by the external agencies. There is an urgent need to conduct training programs to educate the community coordinators /informal leaders to be able to maintain such facility and equipement in good working condition.
As all the participants are from the Tsunami affected villages, basic training in disaster identification, management and prevention is the need of the hour.